The Dr. Phillips Center’s Frontyard Holiday Festival is open for business with Christmas trees twinkling, fire pits roaring and the sounds of the season in the air.

Presented by AdventHealth, with other sponsors, the downtown Orlando arts center’s open-air monthlong celebration runs through Jan. 4 — and is free to attend. Entertainment includes concerts and movie screenings, visits from Santa Claus, child-friendly games, Florida-style “snowfalls” and a nightly tree-lighting ceremony. Food and drink are available for purchase.

At a media preview on Thursday, invitees were able to view the setup, with a big stage on the Seneff Arts Plaza, and sample the holiday treats available — everything from chicken and waffles to coquito.

“What a great way to kick off the holiday season,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.

The holiday fest was inspired by the original Frontyard Festival, which allowed entertainment to continue at the arts center during COVID-19. For that, patrons were kept separated, seated in boxes. Now, everyone sits together in chairs on the lawn or at long picnic-style tables.

“The connection of a community is important,” said arts-center president and CEO Kathy Ramsberger. “People need people, and this frontyard was created for that.”

A dominant feature of the Frontyard Holiday Festival is the presence of multiple firepits. S’more roasting is a key part of the celebration, with ingredients for two costing $10 (it’s $19 for a four-pack and $37 for an eight-pack).

Bars, eateries and shops dot the perimeter of the festival, with titles offering clues to what’s on offer: The Cocoa Emporium, Everfrost Gelato, Burger Bazaar.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer helps kick off the inaugural Frontyard Holiday Festival at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Orlando on Thursday. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)

Retailers include an Orlando Ballet boutique inspired by its production of “The Nutcracker,” which is performed right up to Christmas Eve in the center’s Steinmetz Hall; The Good Pour, sellling aperol-spritz kits, fine Champagne along with artisan soap and other gift ideas; and the Dr. Phillips Center itself, which features a $10 ornament among its offerings.

There’s a wide variety of food offerings: Baby kale salad ($12), baby-back rib basket with coleslaw, pickles and Texas toast ($17), mac-and-cheese bites ($10), Nutella and chocolate chip waffle ($10), Italian sausage with peppers and onions ($15), potato salad ($3), tator tots ($5), Bavarian nuts ($6), an Italian sub ($14), and pretzel bites with cheese sauce ($8), to name a few.

An array of seasonal cocktails also are available, in addition to beer, wine and spirits. Among them: A Maple Sleigh Ride, with bourbon, maple syrup and blackberry puree ($22); a pomegranate-flavored Mistletoe Margarita ($18); a White Christmas, with vodka, orange liqueur, white cranberry juice and rosemary simple syrup ($20); and a Seasonal Old Fashioned, which ends with notes of peach ($22).

Dr. Phillips Center’s holiday gift to Orlando: A free monthlong festival

The festival grounds are uncovered, so wear sunscreen or bring a hat if attending during the day. Restrooms, of the nicer portable kind, are available.

As for the entertainment, movie screenings of seasonal favorites happen twice on Sunday evenings. Choral groups perform between 5:30 and 6 p.m. There’s live music at lunchtime, between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., and headliner concerts at 7 and 9 each evening.

Most days, the festival opens at 11 a.m. and runs through 11 p.m. (concessions are closed 2-5 p.m. weekdays), with the nightly tree lighting at 6 p.m.

Santa and Mrs. Claus cut the ribbon — a garland of evergreen — for the inaugural Frontyard Holiday Festival at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando on Thursday. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)

Get the complete schedule and more details at drphillipscenter.org/frontyard-holiday-festival.

Ramsberger declared this year’s festival is just the beginning, saying the hope is to expand in the future onto City Hall’s plaza, across Orange Avenue, and toward the Orange County Administration Building, behind the arts center.

“We’re going to keep growing this over the next decade,” she said.

Follow me at facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com. Find more entertainment news and reviews at orlandosentinel.com/entertainment or sign up to receive our weekly emailed Entertainment newsletter.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/12/04/dr-phillips-center-festival-preview/